Has any body here ever put their plane on leaseback?

[Enemy Ace]

I snapped up a couple of 172N's and an Aztec E for a very reasonable price when a flight school went under. The school actually could have been a going concern but the owner's son was the DME and wouldn't keep the planes airworthy... Business slowly died off.
I am considering putting these airplanes out on leaseback, has anybody ever done this? good or bad experience? I have arranged for my mechanic to continue taking care of the planes if I do leaseback, that seems to be one of the big problems with leasing to a flight school... out of control Mx charges.
what do Ya'll think?

[Matt Gunsch]

if you can keep a eye on the planes, it can be a good deal, but if you are a phantom owner, you will be taken to the cleaners.
Remember, to the people that will be flying your plane, they are rentals, and some will treat them as such, be prepared for broken plastic, torn seats, and so on.
Also, do not allow the shop to keep your logbooks, they can build a logbook set for use when on leaseback, if they need to see your books, offer to scan them and give them a copy of the scans. A friend of mine just pulled his plane from a leaseback and the shop lost his logbooks and I had to build him a new set of books.

[Second Air Force]

I took care of the maintenance and did the books for a small flight school a number of years ago. We had two 172s and a 172RG on leaseback mixed in with our own aircraft.

One owner had me do all his maintenance, inspections, non-routine etc. We were very conservative with our labor rate and did the best we could to keep his costs from going sky-high. Nevertheless, that airplane flew lots of hours and didn't return much financially.

The second owner had me take care of day-to-day and small repairs/maintenance that kept the airplane reliable and on the line ready to work. He had someone else take care of his 100 hour and annual inspections (a family member, as I recall) and the airplane made pretty good money for us and the owner.

The third airplane was totally maintained by the owner. We were not allowed to work any squawks, so if it had a fouled plug or used up tires it sat until he could get around to fixing it. That airplane spent so much time out of service relative to the rest of the airplanes that most instructors simply didn't schedule time in it. I don't know if it made him any money or not, but at least he didn't have to worry about wearing it out.

So, if you and your mechanic keep them on the flight line, and consistently ready-to-go, it can work. As Matt said, make sure you have control of those logs! Also, don't forget to get an engine overhaul fund started immediately so there is money in the bank when the time comes.

Good luck!
Scott